This Blog is a part of my media social experiment. Comments, suggestions and questions are welcome (vv.free.physics@gmail.com). For the specific lists of posts use links on the right. For consulting services of Education Advancement Professionals visit www.GoMars.xyz. Thank you for visiting, Dr. Valentin Voroshilov.

Hello I am
Dr. Valentin Voroshilov. Since my graduation with my
Masters in theoretical physics I’ve been teaching algebra based physics,
calculus based physics, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, even logic, and
problem solving. I also have a PhD in education with the concentration in
teacher professional development. I have developed and taught courses to middle
and high school teachers. I also developed and taught a physics course for
students with learning disabilities. So, I know a thing or two about teaching,
and I am good at that. My website GoMars.XYZ provides all information about me
(Why “GoMars”? Because it’s easy to remember!).

If you
click on this link you can read what my former students say about my
teaching. This is the best proof any teacher can have of a good teaching
(capital G, capital T). I’m pretty proud of this, considering that when I moved
from Russia to Boston I practically couldn’t speak or understand any English. Today I teach
and wright. I am very productive. I publish (and self-publish) papers and even books. I think that these days I am compensating for all those years when I was learning English (mostly
via TV and radio) and couldn’t express myself.

The first time I realized
that I was good at teaching was a long time ago. I was teaching physics to
two-year college students. It was the first or second week of the course. The
class had to solve some problems, and every student had to show the work to me.
A girl was walking to me slouching and scared. She handed me her notebook. I
looked at it. The solution was absolutely correct. I said “You are absolutely
right, that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be done”. Her face lightens up, she
smiles, and she says “I wouldn’t ever think that I could solve a physics
problem on my own.”

Since then every time when I
begin teaching a new course, I look at my students, and I see an anxiety or
even fear in many eyes. Based on my surveys, student feedback, and just
everyday conversations with students, I know that many of them are scared of
physics, they think physics is too difficult, and they can’t get a good grade
in physics.

That is why at the very
beginning of every physics course I always tell my students “You can learn
physics. Everybody can learn physics.Everyone who knows a multiplication
table, and can solve a quadratic equation can learned a high level of physics -
like quantum gravitation. And everyone can get an A. Different people may need
different time and effort to get it, but everyone in this room can succeeded in
a physics course. If someone tells you that physics is hard, and you can’t
learn it, that person is a liar, or a bad teacher, or he or she just wants to
feel better about themselves. “I know physics, I’m so smart.”

There is a lot of competition
in a “science” of teaching physics. Some people compete for a fame like actors
compete for an Oscar.

Most
of my students by the end of a course change the perception of physics from
“hard” to “doable”, and a perception of themselves from “I can’t do physics” to
“I’m actually smarter than I thought!”. I
always say that to learn how to solve a problem about walking a rope is much
easier and faster than to learn how to walk a rope.

People say that to learn
physics you have to be good at math. That’s not true. That’s another myth. To
learn an algebra based physics people need to know a simple, elementary,
rudimentary mathematics available to everyone.

Learning physics is like
learning a foreign language. You need to memorize a set of new words. And you
need to be able to look around, to see things, to name those things, to classify
those things and relationships between those things. As a school subject,
physics is uniquely positioned as a bridge between an abstract world of
mathematics and real world of actual phenomena.

Physics as a science is based
on experiments, but when we learn physics most of the work is happening in our
brain. We have to use the power of our mind to manipulate with different
images, ideas, abstract objects. That is why the most important tool for
learning physics is imagination – like in reading and writing.

Nowadays,
physics is used far beyond just physics and engineering. It has entered
business, medicine, even sport – and this is the first answer to “WHY students
need to learn physics”.

I
want to finish this video with a question “If everyone can learn physics, does
it mean that everyone can teach it?” The answer is “No”. Why? For a short
answer, I recommend to read the “Fundamental Laws of TeachOlogy”. It takes just fifteen minutes. For the full discussion please read my book “Becoming a STEM
teacher” which is available on Amazon.com or Smashwords.com, or NoiseTrade.com,
and is (basically) free.Thank you.

Appendix: Physics v. Computer
Coding

(a.k.a. a “scientific
thinking” v. “computational thinking”)

Nowadays computer coding, or
“computational thinking” enjoy a broad attention, an ideological and financial
support from all levels of government and philanthropy.

According to the Wikipedia:
“Computational Thinking is the thought processes involved in formulating a
problem and expressing its solution(s) in such a way that a computer—human or
machine—can effectively carry out. Computational Thinking is an iterative
process based on three stages: 1) Problem Formulation (abstraction), 2)
Solution Expression (automation), and 3) Solution Execution & Evaluation (analyses)”.Simply, computational thinking has two parts: developing the
solution of a problem (a.k.a. thinking, or reasoning), and coding (translating
into computer operations) that solution using a language understandable by a
computer.The later part – coding –
relies mostly on memorizing lines of computer commands (or, if using a
high-level object oriented programming – memorizing a set of programming
operations).

Every road has its beginning.

Every evolution has stages
and phases.

The birth of a knowledgeable
and skillful human follows specific laws, in the same manner like the birth of
a human.

Skipping the stages is just
impossible.

Alternating the stages will
lead to “birth defects”.

For STEM, Computer and Data
sciences the road, the evolution, the birth begins with PHYSICS!

Before physics, reading,
writing, math, general science leads to a person to be ready to start to study
physics.

Then study physics leads to
the advanced development of other abilities require to succeed in science.

Why?

Because physics is
the only science suited as the bridgebetween
abstract matters (math) and real world.